July 11, 2020

WEEKLY MENU 07.12.20

We’re eating easy with the Weekly Menu 07.12.20 – and dwelling on the almighty sandwich. Perfect summer food makes us all happy!

I was raised and taught to cook by a quintessential woman of the fifties. Mom rocked the beehive (her red hair made it easy to find her in the grocery store) and always wore heels with her skirts – even when cooking. She never left the house without Naked Pink Lipstick, and she adhered to a pretty strict meal plan when she was feeding the ten of us. We almost always had a starter of some type before the main course. Our dinner plate always had a protein, a starch and a veggie.

We had a “salad” every night.

The salads were creative: sometimes cottage cheese in a canned peach sufficed, but the half grapefruit sprinkled with a little confectioners sugar and topped with a maraschino cherry makes my mouth water even now. Jello parfaits were always a treat, and the first wedge salad I ever had was at her table.

Even though one brother dreaded the “Black Pot”, I was always happy with my Mom’s dinner presentation: regardless of whether we had chuck roast or baked chicken, it was always delish. She was a great cook and taught me almost everything I know.

Not surprisingly, sandwiches didn’t make the cut for her dinners. She made a mean fried bologna sammie for lunch, but a full meal deal was always the plan.

Dinner is different at our house.

We don’t usually have a starter, and we often don’t have the three main components on our plates that she did. Sandwiches are on our Weekly Menu every week. Sometimes I put them on twice. And we skip the starch and load up on salad as a main course – often. The horror!

Sammies are life. Our favorites:

Ham and Bacon Sandwich — Ham & Bacon Sandwich

Closeup of Italian Beef Sandwiches — Crockpot Shredded Beef Sandwich

Cross section of fried chicken sandwich with colesalw — Surprise Ingredient Chicken Sandwich

Of Course the Weekly Menu 07.12.20 has a sandwich.

It’s all the way at the end of the week, but I was inspired by the picture: Sweet Chili Turkey Sandwiches with red onions and arugula. Doesn’t that sound divine?

On the way to the end of the week, we do have some regulation meals. The Grilled Jambalaya is a favorite of everyone here – except Bert. He has to cook all of it. The chicken, the sausage, the shrimp, and the sides (peppers and onions). I take care of the rice and the sauce. Pretty nice plan, huh? Way to ease into the week.

We’re calling it a “Comfort Bowl” on Tuesday. Mashed Potatoes are the base for Pop’s Crispy Chicken. We’ll add some peas, gravy, and a sprinkle of shredded cheese. I’m making enough for seconds. You should too! This one was shamelessly inspired by an Applebees commercial. Man, I can’t wait.

We’re grilling pizza on Friday night. I mentioned it in the Italiano Burgers post: the store was out of regular size bags of pepperoni last week, so I bought a three pound bag. Three pounds. Of course we’re having Cheese and Pep on the ‘za.